The Bay of Pigs is a name given to the failed U.S. attempt to end the communist reign in Cuba that occurred right before midnight on April 15, 1961. 1,400 Cuban exiles had been trained in assault landing and guerilla warfare in Guatemala in order to prepare for the attack. The United States government planned to secretly help from above by sending in air support. However, everything went wrong.
The attack on the Bay of Pigs was problematic from the start. In fact, the Bay of Pigs was not the original location selected for the attack at all. Secondly, when President Eisenhower hatched the plan, he intended for it to be a secret mission. John F. Kennedy, the president who took over after him, agreed to this, but Cuban exiles in Miami working as double-agents got word of the …show more content…
They expected to meet almost no resistance in the swampy bay. Instead, locals lit flares and alerted the military. One Cuban fisherman said, "I went out of the house and saw a flare, like a candle, in the sky. So I headed to the trench with my father and my brothers." Meanwhile, U.S. bombers disguised as Cuban planes began dropping bombs, but the planes missed many of their targets and therefore did not get rid of Castro’s air force. The final nail in the coffin came when John F. Kennedy decided to cancel the second round of airstrikes. Soldiers were left with no backup and no clear plan of attack, which lead to tragedy. Fidel Castro was able to send in over 20,000 troops as reinforcements and in the end over 1,000 members of Brigade 2506 were captured and remained in Cuba for over 20 months until a deal was made between the Cuba and the United States. One American author describes the Bay of Pigs a “perfect failure” and adds, “It was meant to undermine his revolution but it truly helped him to consolidate it." Indeed it was a perfect failure. A project meant to be secret was reported on for all to see, and Cuba is still a Communist country
The attack on the Bay of Pigs was problematic from the start. In fact, the Bay of Pigs was not the original location selected for the attack at all. Secondly, when President Eisenhower hatched the plan, he intended for it to be a secret mission. John F. Kennedy, the president who took over after him, agreed to this, but Cuban exiles in Miami working as double-agents got word of the …show more content…
They expected to meet almost no resistance in the swampy bay. Instead, locals lit flares and alerted the military. One Cuban fisherman said, "I went out of the house and saw a flare, like a candle, in the sky. So I headed to the trench with my father and my brothers." Meanwhile, U.S. bombers disguised as Cuban planes began dropping bombs, but the planes missed many of their targets and therefore did not get rid of Castro’s air force. The final nail in the coffin came when John F. Kennedy decided to cancel the second round of airstrikes. Soldiers were left with no backup and no clear plan of attack, which lead to tragedy. Fidel Castro was able to send in over 20,000 troops as reinforcements and in the end over 1,000 members of Brigade 2506 were captured and remained in Cuba for over 20 months until a deal was made between the Cuba and the United States. One American author describes the Bay of Pigs a “perfect failure” and adds, “It was meant to undermine his revolution but it truly helped him to consolidate it." Indeed it was a perfect failure. A project meant to be secret was reported on for all to see, and Cuba is still a Communist country